Dueling 'Beauties' a highlight of ballet season

In this image released by the American Ballet Theater, Alina Cojocaru and Jose Manuel Carreno perform in a matinee show of "The Sleeping Beauty," on Saturday, June 19, 2010 in New York. (AP Photo/ABT, Gene Schiavone)
— AP

In this image released by the American Ballet Theater, Alina Cojocaru and Jose Manuel Carreno perform in a matinee show of "The Sleeping Beauty," on Saturday, June 19, 2010 in New York. (AP Photo/ABT, Gene Schiavone)
/ AP

In this image released by the American Ballet Theater, Natalia Osipova and David Hallberg perform in "The Sleeping Beauty," on Saturday, June 19, 2010 in New York. (AP Photo/ABT, Rosalie O'Connor)
/ AP

NEW YORK 
In baseball, they call it a double-header. That sounds a little unrefined for ballet. But what else do you call it when two acclaimed visiting ballerinas are performing the same role on the same day on the same stage?

For die-hard fans, a ballet double-header - roughly six hours of "Sleeping Beauty" - was well worth it last weekend, when American Ballet Theatre hosted both Alina Cojocaru, a magnificent dancer from the Royal Ballet, and Natalia Osipova, a Russian phenom and emerging star from the Bolshoi in Moscow.

Both were dancing the challenging role of Princess Aurora, Osipova for the very first time. Cojocaru was both delicate and extremely emotional, able to evoke not only cheers but real tears from the audience. Osipova, who happily has embarked on a growing relationship with ABT this season, again displayed her remarkable physical abilities, particularly her stunning jump.

The day was only one highlight of a particularly rich season of ballet in New York, not just at ABT but also at New York City Ballet, across the plaza at Lincoln Center.

At NYCB, where the season ends Sunday, prolific choreographer Christopher Wheeldon entertained audiences with his latest work, "Estancia," set on a ranch in Argentina. The ballet, which evokes memories of Agnes de Mille and her "Rodeo," boasts a team of graceful dancing horses and a ravishing Tiler Peck, who can both act and dance up a storm and becomes more impressive every season.

"Estancia" is just one of NYCB's seven world premieres this season, and part of the company's ambitious Architecture of Dance festival, featuring sets designed by the architect Santiago Calatrava. Along with Wheeldon, the festival has included new ballets by Alexei Ratmansky, NYCB director Peter Martins and NYCB principal dancer Benjamin Millepied, among others.

Even more unusual has been a host of farewell performances this season at NYCB - four dancers are hanging up their ballet shoes, culminating on the final Sunday with Darci Kistler, Martins' wife and the last of a generation of NYCB ballerinas who trained with George Balanchine. The other retirees: Yvonne Borree, Philip Neal and Albert Evans, and conductor Maurice Kaplow.

Farewells are always fun to watch and often deeply touching. First, the dancer gets to choose his or her favorite roles to reprise, one last time. And then a procession of colleagues and friends fill the stage, bringing bear hugs and countless bouquets.

And sometimes more: A sweet moment at the farewell for Borree, a dancer of delicate physical beauty who spent two decades with the company, came when Damian Woeztel, the recently retired NYCB great, dropped his bouquet on the floor and instead presented her with a little red heart.

But the high point of the ballet season have been the appearances of Osipova, who is dancing three roles with ABT: Aurora, Kitri in "Don Quixote" and in July, Juliet.

Most impressive so far was her Kitri. In ballet, there are the OK jumpers, the good jumpers and the great jumpers. And then there's Osipova, who doesn't so much jump as launch herself into the air for an extended stay, with seeming total control over when (and whether) she might ever land.